Photo: SarahStierch · CC BY 4.0Elk Grove’s library is a branch of Sacramento Public Library, which lends less per resident than 57% of systems its size
Elk Grove’s library is the Franklin Library, a branch of Sacramento Public Library, which serves 1,490,915 people and lent 8.7M items last year.
The short version on Elk Grove’s library
Few programs for a library this size
The Sacramento Public Library system offered 4,436 programs last year, 3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 78% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Elk Grove’s library is a branch of Sacramento Public Library, so they cover the whole system (1,490,915 people), not just the Elk Grove branch.
What’s behind Elk Grove’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Elk Grove is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #246 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #232. Elk Grove is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Elk Grove’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($94K–$157K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
520 community nonprofits are registered in Elk Grove
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (150 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 35 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Elk Grove’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical California town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Elk Grove’s residents live; 2022.
51% of borrowing is digital
8.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,424,815 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sacramento Public Library serves 1,490,915 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 161 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sacramento Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 55 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
2 places to borrow in Elk Grove
Franklin Library, 10055 Franklin High Road, Elk Grove.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sacramento Public Library branch.
New in Elk Grove? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Sacramento Public Library branches in Elk Grove
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elk Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $57M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $127M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 858,125 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Grove | Franklin Library fine-free | — | 40 | C− |
| Sacramento | Sacramento Central Library fine-free | — | 39 | C+ |
| Florin | Southgate Library fine-free | — | 39 | — unincorporated |
| Vineyard | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Franklin Library is one branch of Sacramento Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,490,915 people it serves.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Elk Grove
Does Elk Grove have a public library?
Yes: Franklin Library, 10055 Franklin High Road, is a branch of Sacramento Public Library, which serves 1,490,915 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sacramento Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Elk Grove’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Elk Grove’s civic life grade?
C− Elk Grove is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #246 of 448 in California. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Elk Grove.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.